Chicago area school districts?

[californiamom]

Hi ladies,

I was offered a new job in the Chicago area and am considering the possibilities... Anyone from Chicago area to advise on neighborhoods and school districts? Any international schools, IB school, or schools that focus on global education? Any tips on where to settled down in Chicago?

Thank you so much for any and all replies! :)

[alexsmommy]

That is a huge question for just Chicago proper. If you are including the 'burbs, then that is enormous. It's a huge city and just about everything is offered here. Do you have any sense at all of where you might be living?

[californiamom]

Sorry, I am not very familiar with the area so I am open to suggestions... Yes, I am thinking suburbs of Chicago and am in desperate need of direction! My job would be in the Loop. I saw a few affordable houses on realtor.com in the Plainfield and Romeoville areas, but I am not at all familiar with the schools there. I have heard good things about the Wheaton & surrounding area, as well as Schaumburg area but did not find international schools in the area. I guess maybe we should start with which region to narrow it down to? South/Southwest, North/Northwest? Any suggestions or tips?

[Momof3Labs]

If you work in the loop, you need to live close to a train station. That narrows down your options somewhat. Then, how long are you willing to commute daily (ie, I am 2 blocks from a train station but it is a 1hr train ride)? Price range matters - the less you want to spend, the farther away you will be from the city (generally speaking - for comparable school districts).

Tinley Park just won an award for the best place to raise kids and has a few train stations, but I'm not sure that you'll find international school options. I'm kinda thinking that you are most likely to find those on the north side of the city, though if they are private, they'll come with a hefty price tag.

[Roleysmom]

As the previous posters said, that's a hard question to answer without more specifics. I know more about the city than I do the suburbs, so I can't help you much with suburban research. One way to start is to think about your price range for a home and the type of environment you want -- more urban, close to Lake, ability to walk to coffee shops, boutiques, quiet with yard, etc. -- and then start to ask around.

I've listed below the zip codes of a couple of city neighborhoods. You could use realtor.com or your housing search engine of choice and play around and see what you can get for your money.

Chicago Public Schools does have a variety of options. They have junior high schools and high schools with IB programs, for example, and magnet schools that focus on foreign languages. There are schools that require testing to get in and others that accept students by lottery. However, it can be a very difficult system to navigate and you are competing with tens of thousands of families for limited spots in the very best schools. Some neighborhoods have strong local schools where you need to do nothing more than live in the attendance area. And those neighborhoods may be among the most pricey (but not always.) Other neighborhoods (many) don't have strong local schools, so if you want public, then you have to compete for limited spots in the strongest schools.

Also, the city is in the midst of revamping how students are eligible for magnet schools. That's something that may be likely to evolve over the years, so if your children aren't school aged yet, what the system looks like when you need it could be different than what it looks like now.

There are a variety of private school options in the city -- Montessori, Waldorf, parochial, the British School that offers an IB program, etc. -- but they range in cost from good deals to $25,000 a year.

Some city zip codes to search:
Beverly -- 60643
Hyde Park -- 60615 or 60637
South Loop -- 60605
Lincoln Park -- 60614
Lincoln Square -- 60613 or 60625

Chicago Public Schools website: http://www.cps.edu/Pages/home.aspx

Good luck! It's a great city (and metro area.)

[MamaMolly]

We lived in Naperville and I taught in an elementary school there. I'd send DD to a Naperville school in a red hot minute. I think the feeder high school Nequa Valley (??) is a top, top, top notch school. It was featured on an Oprah show about the differences between urban vs. suburban schools.

I also tutored at a Sylvan in Wheaton. I *loved* it. Naperville was a bit more yuppie I guess, and Wheaton a bit more down to earth. To be honest I wish we had lived in Wheaton, but this was pre-DD so take that FWIW. From Naperville DH rode the train into the city daily. It was a simple commute. If I had to do it over without kids I'd live in the city proper. But with DD? We'd be heading back out to the burbs, and probably Naperville.